Har-ley Lesson: Gone in 60 Seconds But Undone by a Mobile Call

HYDERABAD/MUMBAI: Finally, it was cellphone triangulation that did him in. Turlapati Kiran, an IIT-Madras alumnus and employee of ONGC, who vroomed away on a Harley Davidson Street-750 from Hyderabad, was caught in Mumbai on Friday after he called a friend.

Kiran had gone to the Harley Davidson outlet in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, and registered for a test drive under a fake name, before disappearing with the `5.7 lakh bike. Police officers tracked the IMEI number of the phone from the time the bike swerved on Road Number 3 in Banjara Hills to Panjagutta to Shamirpet here, and this was the key, said officials.

P Murali Krishna, SHO of Banjara Hills Police Station, confirmed Kiran’s arrest but refused to divulge details. “I can reveal more only after the team that arrested him returns,” he said.

“The phone was being monitored and with the call he made, we could pin him down,” sources said. “Kiran was in shock when the police swooped down on him and grabbed him in Mumbai since he thought he had made good his escape,” said an official. Sources told Express that Kiran, who was passionate about motorcycles, often spoke about owning a Harley Davidson. But perhaps, his finances did not allow him to buy one and he finally decided to get his favourite bike by hook or crook.

“We have found that he is into drugs. It appears that he stole the bike to have a feel of it and then sell it in Mumbai to buy his stuff,” sources said, adding that he was being brought to Hyderabad on Friday night. He had friends in Mumbai, they added.

Asked if he was ‘high’ when he walked into the showroom, sources could not confirm. “Whatever little we could talk to him so far, he spoke about his habits, including doing drugs and passion for bikes,” a source said. A police officer said the close kin of the accused was shattered by the news since he hails from a respectable family.

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The New Indian Express
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